Don’t pay the guys at the car shop $20 to clean your hazy headlights or buy those expensive cleaners, because you can do it yourself for free in five minutes. The cleaner you need is probably in your pantry or laundry room or both. I have heard that you can do this with white tooth paste but all I have is the orange citrus flavored kind. So I thought baking soda should work just fine because that pretty much what white toothpaste is. And you know what, it works like magic and it’s super easy, quick and free. Here’s how to clean headlights in five minutes or less with baking soda.
Step One: Make a thick paste of baking soda and water.
I’m using a microfiber cloth but the paste is so thick it doesn’t really matter.
Step Two: Smear paste onto headlights and buff.
Step Three: Rinse baking soda off and dry.
That’s it! Grand total of five minutes to clean headlights (unless you’re taking pictures then maybe ten). I used my all purpose vinegar cleaner to rinse off the baking soda off of the headlights. My microfiber cloth was more useful here drying off the solution and picking up any other lingering dirt. I was really amazed at how much dirt I got off of the headlight and how clear it was after. The really nice thing after cleaning the headlights is that they seem brighter and less dreary. Yay for being able to see in the dark better!
Happy Cleaning!
Angela
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Angela Says 
I’ve been meaning to do this! It looks like it works great. There are so many great uses for baking soda!
It was so easy too and I didn’t have to scrub very hard. I love baking soda and it’s random awesome uses.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
What a difference! Makes me want to try this on lots of things. Thanks for linking to the Craftastic Monday party at Sew Can Do!
Thanks so much for hosting and stopping by!
I’ve heard you can use toothpaste too. Good idea on the baking soda…I actually have that on hand. Thanks for sharing at the Frugal Crafty Home blog hop!
Yes, with white toothpaste. Thanks so much for hosting and stopping by!
The toothpaste does not work already tried that one.Looking forward to trying this one.
I found you from Sugar Bee Crafts!. I host Fluster Creative Muster Party on Wednesdays and I would love it if you would come by and party with us. Hope to see you there!
Hugs, Smiles, and Blessings,
Robin
Fluster Buster
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Thanks for the awesome tip. Just stumbled upon your blog for the first time – it’s awesome and a keeper for sure!
Thanks so much, I’m glad you like it!
Great Idea, Angie, there are so many cleaning uses for baking soda! Thanks!
You’re so welcome!
Angela thank you for sharing this article. I just have a question: can you tell how much baking soda to water you used to make this cleaner? Also to debunk the toothpaste cleaning of head lights. It’s not meant to be done just by hand but by a air powered sander/buffer! I saw a segment on one of the Saturday car shows that showed cleaning lenses with white toothpaste but using the air tool to buff it into the lense better. Believe me I tried the toothpaste deal before I saw the show.
Thanks Again,
David
Hi David,
You’re welcome! I used roughly a 2:1 baking soda to water, just enough water to make the baking soda workable but not runny. You want the baking soda to stay on the headlight and not run off where you don’t want it.
Thanks for stopping by!
My thoughts are that if this works, there are a lot of companies making money on us suckers by selling us headlight cleaner! Shame on them, and thanks ANG for telling us about the baking soda!
You’re welcome!
Thank you so much for this tip! I spent $18 on a cleaning kit at the parts store last year! It took more like 30 minutes and a lot of trouble! I don’t think they were any better off than when we started! I will definitly have to try this!!!
You are so welcome! I have been tempted to buy one of those kits but figured I could do it myself some how. I’m so glad you liked my tip.
…thanks for the tip Angie! Gotta love the baking soda! Hope you don’t mind me following you around on your Blog = )…
You’re welcome. Please stay as long as you would like. :)
That is so awesome!! I am stopping by from The Resourceful Gals. Thanks for letting me know about your blog. I will be using your great tips!
Gloria
I’m so happy you like them. Thanks for visiting my little blog.
It only works on the outside of the hedlamp. Some headlamps seals will go bad and the dullness will be on the inside.
Yes, that is true and I did mean this tutorial to be used on the outside only. I appreciated your added insight. :)
Does this work on both Plastic and Glass headlights ?
Yes it does. :)
We have a couple of cars with plastic headlights and a couple with glass….does this work for both?
Yes, it should work for both. The headlights in the example are plastic.
Thank you!
It didn’t work for me. I worked at for ten minutes and at the end even added a bit of vinager and let it sit for a few then scrubbed some more. I will say it helped, one headlight is mostly clear and the other one must be to far gone for this to work. Maybe I’ll try the tooth paste.
I hope the toothpaste works better for you, just be sure to get the plain white, non gel kind.
I must be doing something wrong. I tried this method and my headlights are still cloudy, almost like it’s on the inside. Is there any solution to this issue?
I did notice when I cleaned mine there was some dirt inside of the headlight, so there might be some on the inside, which you could try to clean if you remove the actual light bulb. I don’t know how to remove the light bulb unfortunately. I was okay with a imperfect result. However, I would try another application or two and be sure to use a little muscle when buffing the headlight.
Thanks. I’ll try it again. It was cloudy inside, not dirt.
Be careful with getting baking soda on the car itself. I started using baking soda as a body scrub a few weeks ago. (Works great! Mix it in your hand with a little soap.) I used a brand new razor in the shower, and the next day it had completely corroded and rusted — 24 hours later. I was shocked!
Crest whitening tooth paste works great too :)